


Bad Religion

by WhumpTown



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Gen, OTP Feels, Temporarily Unrequited Love, it'll be okay, they're endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhumpTown/pseuds/WhumpTown
Summary: “No,” he breathes softly. “Love waits.”
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Bad Religion

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I hear this song I think of them so I finally put the pedal to the metal and wrote the fic I've been thinking about for days
> 
> The song is Bad Religion by Frank Ocean and I highly recommend it

_This unrequited love  
To me, it's nothin' but a one-man cult  
And cyanide in my styrofoam cup_

Her dark eyes sparkle in the moonlight. She’s a sight for sore eyes but each second that passes is a stab to his wounded body. He’s gutted and awestruck in the same beat of his broken heart. She’s standing close, he can smell her conditioner and the lotion she uses. All it would take is an inch, one inch and he could kiss her.

“Malcolm-” 

He swallows thickly, his adam’s apple bobbing in his sore throat. “Don’t,” he whispers, voice breaking from the tension. “It’s…” he licks his lips, shaking his head because he can’t think of the right words to say when she’s this close. All he can feel and think is about her skin pressed to his own.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, tucking head into his shoulder. She’s trying to hide her tears from him. Tears that are falling because- 

His chest hurts. She’s wrapped around him, clutching him, terrified that she hates him. How could he hate her? He curses the man who put it in her head that she owes someone her love. You earn love and sometimes you stumble into it but it’s not owed. Not by anyone and certainly not to him. 

He pulls her tighter, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. “Dani-” he presses his cheek to hers. He wants to tell her that she brings him to his knees. The sight of her floors him and, for a man who studies human behavior, she’s the only person that he can never really wrap his mind around. And can’t she _see_ how unique that is?

“No,” he breathes softly. “Love waits.” It waits through everything. Snow and rain. The highs and the lows. Sunny days and stormy months. “Dani, I need you to understand that.” He holds her face between his palms and he smiles through the pain of his chest because that’s what love does. “I’ll wait until you’re ready and… and if you’re never ready than…” his throat is raw from the thought alone. 

To never have her. To share his home and his body and his heart… He can’t fathom it but he’d never- _never_ \- want to push her to that point. To submit to what he wants just because he feels a certain way.

“I’ll still be right here.”

She shakes her head. That’s too much to ask of anyone. It’s unfair and he should be able to go out and love someone else because whoever that girl is she’s going to be the luckiest girl in the world. “Malcolm-”

“I’m sorry if I made you feel like you have to say it back.” She places her head back on his shoulder, wrapping her arms tight around his waist. “ But I meant it, okay? No matter what.”

Her tears soak through his shirt. She feels horrible. He’s her best friend. She’s slept in his bed, held his hand, and she does love him. She loves him so much it hurts but if she says it out loud if she tries to commit herself to a relationship now… It’s just not right. She’s not ready and saying anything but the truth is unfair to him.

“You shouldn’t have to.”

Malcolm rubs her back, “don’t say that.” He shakes his head, holding her tight. “I love you, Dani, and if you need time then that’s okay. All we have is time.” He presses a kiss to her head, “but don’t tell me I shouldn’t wait or that you’re not worth it because… God, you’re-you’re more than worth it, okay?”

And if it takes a lifetime for her to figure that out… then he’ll still spend a lifetime with his best friend.

_I guess it couldn't hurt me  
If it brings me to my knees  
It's a bad religion_


End file.
